Kiev, Odessa, Bobrinets

January 22–26, 2010

Kiev

The country prepares for yet another presidential election.

ALL POWER TO THE SCUMBEGS—NEVER FORGET

The entire country is buried in snow, which is barely being cleared. The sidewalks, with the exception of a few downtown, are covered with a layer of ice 10 centimeters thick. Piles of snow everywhere. Everyone thinks that this is how the current government, which is on its way out, is taking its revenge.

A view of the Golden Gates from the roof of the House with a Spire (also known as the Knight’s House or Castle Baron Steingel).

Odessa

Odessa is magnificent even in the winter snow. In addition to the blue dumpsters which we discovered here six months ago, there are now black and green ones as well.

A typical Odessa sign.

COCON store has moved to COCON-light store, 31 Grecheskaya St.

The end product of municipal creative effort is displayed all over the city, adding to its charm. “Odessa is unmatched”:

And “I believe in Odessa” with a photo of some completely random highway.

While they make at least some effort to remove the snow in the cities, the inter-city roads are simply buried under a meter-thick layer of it. I was lucky—they’d already managed to clear the shortest route to Bobrinets. The day before, people had to take a detour.

Bobrinets

A small, quiet, cozy town. Trotsky lived here and kept a shop in this building:

Clothing from Europe

The trademark Bobrinets trash can.